AN EQUAL RIGHTS activist is fighting for her life after being caught up in gunfire when violence erupted at a party.

Sasha Johnson is in a critical condition in hospital after she was shot in the head in Peckham, south-east London, in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Police said there is no evidence that the 27-year-old campaigner was the intended target of the shooting.

Her friend, Imarn Ayton, told BBC News that the young mother has successfully undergone surgery and her parents are with her in hospital.

Asked about the circumstances, she said: “As far as we are aware, she was at a party.

“There was a rival gang that may have heard about someone being in that party that they didn’t feel quite comfortable with or trusted and so they resorted to driving past and shooting into the garden, and one of those shots obviously hit Sasha Johnson.

“But I don’t believe she was the intended victim.”

Oxford graduate Ms Johnson is a known figure in the Black Lives Matter movement and is described as “a strong, powerful voice for our people and our community” by the Taking The Initiative Party, of which she is a member.

In a statement, the TTIP said: “It is with great sadness that we inform you that our own Sasha Johnson has sustained a gunshot wound to her head.

“She is currently hospitalised and in a critical condition.

“The incident happened in the early hours of this morning, following numerous death threats.

“Sasha has always been actively fighting for black people and the injustices that surround the black community, as well as being both a member of BLM and a member of Taking The Initiative Party’s executive leadership committee.”

The TTIP has asked people to “all come together and pray for Sasha, pray for her recovery and show our support to her family and loved ones”.

Claudia Webbe, Labour MP for Leicester East, was among those who went online to express “solidarity” with Ms Johnson.

Ms Webbe said: “We were all out last year for Black Lives Matter.

“I only know her as an activist on these issues of Black Lives Matter. I support Black Lives Matter and therefore support what she was doing.

“As a Member of Parliament I stand in full solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and I stand with her work in the Black Lives Matter movement.”